1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to utilizing evaporative cooling to chill air, and, more particularly, to evaporative air coolers. More specifically, the present invention relates to an evaporative cooler utilizing a gypsum-ceramic casting to form a central air passageway; hydration and subsequent surface nano-evaporation chills the gypsum-ceramic casting, the chilled casting cooling air flowing within the passageway.
2. Description of the Related Art
The western quarter of the United States, from West Texas and Colorado to the California coastal range, is characterized by warm to hot summers with low relative humidity. Such a climate is ideal for evaporative coolers, which release water into the air to obtain an acceptable degree reduction in air temperature, depending upon the humidity of the outside air.
Relying upon the thermodynamics associated with the conversion of water from a liquid to a gas, the majority of evaporative coolers employ a fan or blower that draws hot outside air through a wet, porous media. So long as the outside ambient air remains dry (below 30% relative humidity), such coolers can provide cooling during the hottest days of summer at a fraction of the electrical power requirements of compressive refrigeration coolers.
Operation of an evaporative cooler has the blower drawing outside air into the housing, typically after the air first passes through a wetted media. Water in the wetted media evaporates into the dry air as it passes through, cooling and humidifying the air in the process. The blower then exhausts the cooled air from within the housing and into the areas to be cooled, displacing the warm ambient air with the cooled, conditioned, and humidified air.
Maintenance of an evaporative cooler requires periodic cleansing of the water reservoir. The number of operating hours between cleanings is primarily dependent upon the operational environment of the cooler. Such cleanings are important to maintain the efficiency of the unit, as well as to prevent an accumulation of undesirable molds, fungus, and odors.
Additionally, the evaporative coolers described above can only operate efficiently in the less-than-thirty-percent humidity areas of the country—essentially the Southwest. A need exists to provide the lower-power benefits of evaporative cooling in areas having relative humidity's of greater than 30%, without the requirement to move large volumes of air, the capital costs of the physical equipment, and the frequent cleaning requirements to maintain efficiency, air freshness, and avoid the dispersion of allergens during evaporative cooling operation.